Citywide Service Solutions

An audit at Citywide Service Solutions means an arborist standing at each individual tree, one at a time, scoring its health and structure, its canopy condition, and any pest or disease it is carrying. That information goes into TRAX, our asset management system, and the centralised record is what decides whether a tree needs work and how urgently it needs it. We are responsible for safely maintaining in excess of 1.5 million trees in over 2,500 parks along Australia's eastern seaboard, and we are one of the largest employers of arborists in the country. The City of Melbourne's entire tree population sits in that program, along with the City of Sydney's parks and gardens, the National Capital Authority's assets in Canberra including the parliamentary precinct, ANZAC Parade and the rose garden at Old Parliament House, and the grounds of Melbourne University, Brighton Grammar, the six campuses of the University of Western Sydney and Shore School.

From tree selection and planting through to scheduled maintenance, the work is aimed at getting the longest life out of an open space. Scheduled formative tree pruning shapes young trees on a set cycle, so the structure is right long before correcting it becomes expensive, tree planting puts the replacements in, and tree and stump removal takes out what is past keeping. Anything an audit turns up in a canopy goes to pest and disease management. Our powerline tree clearance is fully compliant with the Electrical Safety Act (Electric Line Clearance) Regulations 2015, which set the minimum safe clearance between trees and powerlines and require street trees to be inspected regularly so that regrowth stays clear of the lines. Crews work across metropolitan Melbourne, regional Victoria, New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory and Queensland.

Roots are the part nobody sees until a footpath lifts or a drain blocks. Restricted rooting space, compacted or poorly drained soil, roots severed by construction and root disease are all below-ground causes of tree problems, and root barriers and selective root pruning are how we deal with them while keeping the tree. We install root deflectors and barriers to 2500mm deep with a choice of membrane and underground utility diagnosis done first, along with engineered cut-off walls, soil moisture barriers and pathogen quarantine barriers. We map and selectively prune the roots behind trip hazards, cracked or lifted fences, blocked drains and raised kerb and channel, expose root systems by air knifing, and de-compact soil without damaging what is growing through it. Some of that is only possible because we built the machine for it, a purpose-built trencher that combines root pruning and soil removal in one pass and is sized to reach locations most machinery cannot.

Trees sit inside a wider open space business that also takes in natural vegetation management, weed control, parks and gardens, turf and sports grounds, irrigation, mowing and floral displays, alongside civil works, asphalt, traffic management and capital works programs for local government. Head office is on Arden Street in North Melbourne, open Monday to Friday from 8.30am to 5pm, with an after hours support line for the things that will not keep until morning. Ring us to talk through a tree program, an audit of the trees you already hold, a clearance contract or a single removal, and we will put the right crew on it.